The crew of a fishing vessel is safe after being forced to abandon ship this morning off the coast of Newfoundland.

According to Maj. Martell Thompson of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax, a distress call was made to the centre from the vessel shortly before 10 a.m. It was located approximately 42 nautical miles northeast of St. John’s at the time.

During that call, the crew of four decided to abandon the ship and move to a life raft while wearing immersion suits. Shortly thereafter, they were picked up by another fishing vessel, the Jennifer Taylor.

A Cormorant helicopter from 103 Search and Rescue Squadron in Gander responded to the scene at 11:20 a.m. SAR Techs boarded the Jennifer Taylor to conduct a medical assessment and determined the crew members were safe. The Cormorant then left the scene.

This story has been edited from an earlier version to incorporate additional details.

HBG

Expert Bloggers

Quick question - 03/31/2015

A Corner Brook woman was upset recently when she had her seal skin purse confiscated by customs officials when entering the United States — she was unaware of a U.S. ban on seal product entering that country. Are you aware of the ban?